Description: A number of studies have been organised in Sweden, in the Nordic countries and internationally on students´ reading skills. IEA has organised the Reading Literacy Study in 1970, 1991 and PIRLS in 2001. The OECD has organised the PISA studies in 2000 and 2003.There have also been a number of studies undertaken only in Sweden. The Swedish National Agency for Education has published evaluation reports, covering the years 1992, 1995 and 2003, in which reading skills have been included. Professor Karin Taube has been the project leader for a number of studies in different Swedish municipalities. These projects include testing of reading skills of all students in grade 3 in Stockholm 1993 - 1999 and in grade 8 in Stockholm 1997 - 2000. A number of other municipalities in Sweden have also participated in similar projects 1994 - 2005. All these data, some published and some not yet published, provide an opportunity to analyse questions related to students´ reading. The data covers several years from 1970 to 2005 and concerns students in grades 3, 4, 8 and 9. Some of the studies on reading allow comparisons over time. The studies organised within the framework of IEA make it possible to compare students' reading skills in 1970, 1991 and 2001. The national assessments published by the Swedish National Agency for Education compare reading skills in 1992, 1995 and 2003. The studies organised in Stockholm allows comparisons over the years 1993 to 1999 in grade 3 and 1997 to 2000 in grade 8. Some of the studies in other municipalities cover several years and also allow comparisons over time. Also the PISA study may contribute, but only with two assessments in 2000 and 2003. The development in Sweden will also be put into a Nordic as well as an international perspective. Methodology: To analyse the development of reading among Swedish students the following sources will be used: - Reading surveys organized by IEA: IEA Reading Literacy study 1970 and 1991 and PIRLS 2001 (Thorndike, 1973; Elley, 1992; Taube, 1993; Martin,, Mullis, Gonzalez,, & Kennedy, 2003; Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez, & Kennedy, 2003; Skolverket, 2003). - The evaluation reports from the Swedish National Agency for education: 1992, 1995 and 2003 (Skolverket, 2004a) - The PISA study: 2000 and 2003 (OECD, 2001, 2004; Skolverket, 2001, 2004b) - Studies organized in Swedish municipalities: Stockholm (1993 - 2000), Täby (1993, 1998 - 2000), Ekerö (1999-2005), Nacka (1999-2005), Sollentuna (1999-2005), Tyresö (1999-2005), Upplands Väsby (1999-2005), Kristianstad (2002 - 2005) and Härnösand (2004 - 2005). Further information about the studies organized by IEA, PISA and Skolverket (National Agency for Education, Sweden) can be found in the literature referred to above. The surveys in Swedish municipalities were made in grade 3 or grade 8. The reading tests used in grade 3 were composed of two parts: a word recognition test and a text comprehension test. The word recognition test was the same as had been used in the Swedish part of the IEA Reading Literacy study in 1991. It contained 40 words. For each word, four pictures were presented. The student was asked to read the word and indicate which of the pictures illustrated the word. The purpose of the test was to give low achieving students an easy task that they could solve and to find out if low results on the text comprehension test could be explained by difficulties in fast and correct word recognition. The students were given 3 minutes to complete the test. The text comprehension test was a modified version of the test used for grade 3 in the IEA Reading Literacy study. One of the booklets from the IEA Reading Literacy study with texts and tasks was used. The test contained 26 out of the 66 tasks, and 6 texts of the 15 texts that had originally been included in the IEA test. The 6 texts were different in character: 2 texts were narrative, 1 was expository and 3 were documents (such as maps and tables). Each text was followed by a number of tasks related to the text - 26 tasks in total. The students were given 35 minutes to complete the test. The reason for modifying the IEA test came from a belief that a shorter version would be sufficient to give a picture of the level of students' reading skills. It was also considered that a too long test could be seen as too time-consuming and too demanding by the teachers who had to administer the test. In the grade 8 study, a modified version of the IEA Reading Literacy test for grade 8 was used. One of the booklets from the IEA Reading Literacy study with texts and tasks was used. The test contained 40 out of the 89 tasks, 9 texts out of the 19 that had been part of the IEA test. The 9 texts were different in character: 3 were narrative, 2 expository and 4 documents. Each text was followed by a number of tasks related to the text, 40 tasks in total. The students were given 40 minutes to complete the test. The reasons for using a shorter version of the test than the original IEA test was the same as those mentioned above. In order to collect information about the students, their backgrounds and their school situations, the reading tests were complemented with a list with information about the students which each teacher having the main responsibility for the class was asked to complete. In all the surveys in Stockholm, Täby and Härnösand a student questionnaire and a teacher questionnaire were used. In the studies in Ekerö, Nacka, Sollentuna, Tyresö, Upplands Väsby and Kristianstad in 2004 was a student questionnaire used. Conclusions: From the different studies it will be possible to discuss what kind of patterns may be distinguished related to reading skills among students in Sweden based on these data? Is it possible at all to speak about general trends? What may be the directions of these trends? Have reading skills among children and young people improved or do they read worse now than they used to do? Have reading habits and attitudes towards reading changed? If so, in what direction? How may changes in reading skills relate to changes in education policy and general changes in society during these years?